- The Washington Times - Wednesday, April 15, 2020

A group of crime victims from Utah and the American Civil Liberties Union ramped up Wednesday their legal fight over the potential release of hundreds of inmates from the state’s prisons and jails, with each side accusing the other trampling on their legal rights.

The ACLU of Utah has demanded the state “significantly reduce” the state’s incarcerated population. It has called for the immediate release of hundreds of prisoners.

Among those who would be sprung under the ACLU’s plan include a former bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two children, a man accused of kidnapping and murdering two teenagers in 2017, and a woman who allegedly purchased bacteria that can cause staph infections to kill her roommate.

Crime victims and their families last week asked the Utah Supreme Court to block the proposed releases, saying they’ve been shut out of the process. The Utah Constitution’s Crime Victim Bill of Rights grants them the right to weigh in on a defendant’s release ahead of trial or before the completion of a prison sentence, they argued.

Victims went a step further Wednesday arguing the potential releases could pose a danger.

They say they have the “right to be heard and treated with fairness as decisions are made involving the potential release of individuals accused (or convicted) of harming them or their family members.”

But the ACLU pushed back, arguing the victims are infringing on the defendants’ rights because the coronavirus releases are a civil rights issue, not a criminal one.

Holding defendants in jail amid the coronavirus crisis violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, the ACLU argued.

“The risks petitioners face due to being incarcerated during the COVID-19 pandemic result in constitutional violations and create a risk of serious harm to them,” the civil rights group wrote in a court filing.

Utah has released hundreds of prisoners because of the pandemic, but the ACLU said more should be sprung. It has asked for the immediate release of all pretrial detainees, post-conviction detainees with less than six months left on their sentence, and all individuals who are at high-risk for serious coronavirus complications.

The ACLU is seeking the appointment of a special master to determine which inmates should be released early.

Victims said Wednesday an unelected special master would be too powerful with no checks on their authority. It is also unclear what standard would be applied to decide which defendants would be freed.

“The master will not only be an unelected official residing in a different community but will also possess essentially unreviewable release authority,” they wrote. “The requested relief does not indicate any possibility of appeal to correct erroneous decisions.”

But advocates for victims of crime say several dangerous inmates could be released under the ACLU plan.

Potential releases include Francis Herber Fuller, a former bishop who pleaded guilty sexually abusing two children; Jerrod Willam Baum who is awaiting trial in a capital murder case for the death of two teenagers; and Janie Lynn Ridd, who is charged with seeking a biological weapon of mass destruction after she allegedly purchased bacteria that could cause staph infections.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.

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